The invention relates to a conveying arrangement, in particular suspension-type conveying arrangement, having rails for guiding conveyable-article carriers, equipped with running rollers, along a conveying route, having a drive belt which is driven in circulation about diverting means, is guided along the conveying route, at least in certain regions, by means of a guide arrangement and has driver elements which are arranged on it and, in a driving position, are suitable, and envisaged, for driving rail-guided conveyable-article carriers along the conveying route, and having means for stopping conveyable-article carriers in a build-up region of the conveying route as the drive belt continues running.
A generic suspension-type conveying arrangement of the type mentioned above is described, for example, in EP 0 516 971 B1. In the case of this known conveying arrangement, the conveyable-article carriers have two running rollers which are arranged in a rotatable manner at the free leg ends of a V-shaped or U-shaped bracket and are oriented obliquely in relation to one another, with the result that they can roll on the running surfaces of a gable-roof-like guide rail along a relevant conveying route, the bracket extending beneath the running rail. The known suspension-type conveying arrangement has, as drive belt, a plate link chain which is guided in a chain guide along the conveying route. For coupling the conveyable-article carriers to the drive chain, use is made of driver fingers which are provided at certain intervals on the drive chain, the driver fingers projecting laterally from the drive chain, in a direction transverse to the running direction of the conveyable-article carriers, and into the path of the conveyable-article carriers. If the drive chain is then driven in order to move along the conveying route, a respective driver finger can act on a conveyable-article carrier which may be present on the guide rail, and push or drive it along the conveying route, the conveyable-article carrier being guided on the guide rail by way of its running rollers. The driver fingers are individual, inherently elastic flat-bar elements which are made of plastic, can be deflected with yielding action and are connected, via a region of increased elasticity, to a respective driver-retaining part of the drive chain. The elasticity of a respective driver finger is intended to ensure certain damping, in the case of the driver finger acting on the conveyable-article carrier, if the driver finger comes into contact with a stop region provided rigidly on the conveyable-article carrier. Furthermore, it is possible for a relevant elastic driver finger, in the case of the conveyable-article carrier stopping as the drive chain continues to run, to be deflected to the extent where it disengages from the conveyable-article carrier, with the result that, in a situation where the conveyable-article carriers build up, the drive belt can continue running without the relevant conveyable-article carriers or driver fingers being destroyed. However, each time a driver finger passes as the drive chain continues running, a conveyable-article carrier which has been stopped or is located in a built-up formation, is subjected to contact impact. This may result in undesired vibrations, in increased wear to elements of the conveying arrangement and in the development of aggravating noise. It is also the case that it is not possible for the abovementioned disadvantageous effects to be prevented by the elasticity of the driver fingers.
Also known are suspension-type conveying arrangements of the type mentioned in the introduction in the case of which brush elements are spaced apart from one another at certain intervals on a drive belt in the form of a drive chain, the brush elements serving as driver elements for driving conveyable-article carriers. As in the case of the driver finger described with reference to EP 0 516 971 B1, the bristles of the brush elements are also intended to provide damping action in the case of the driver elements acting on a conveyable-article carrier in order to drive it along the conveying route. In the case of intended or unintended stoppage of the conveyable-article carriers, however, it is also the case that such brush elements subject the conveyable-article carriers to contact impact, this resulting in corresponding vibration with the disadvantages which have already been described above.
German patent application 100 05 646 describes a suspension-type conveying arrangement with brush elements on a drive chain for driving conveyable-article carriers, said conveying arrangement having the special feature that the conveyable-article carriers have pivotable coupling elements in order to be subjected to the action of the brush elements. Build-up formation results in the coupling elements of the conveyable-article carriers which come into contact with one another being pivoted, under the build-up pressure, into a passive position, in which they are not engaged by the brush elements of the continuing drive chain, with the result that the above-mentioned contact impact is largely avoided.
The object of the invention is to demonstrate further ways in which, in the case of a conveying arrangement of the type mentioned in the introduction, impact loading of the conveyable-article carriers in the case of a build-up can be at least largely avoided.
According to a first embodiment of the invention, in order to achieve this object, it is proposed that the conveying arrangement have position-changing means which can be activated in a controlled manner and are intended for transferring driver elements of the drive belt from their driving position into a non-driving position in the build-up region, it being possible for the driver elements located in the non-driving position, if appropriate, only to engage with a slight degree of coupling, if at all, and with easily yielding action with built-up conveyable-article carriers.
The driver elements transferred into the non-driving position, in the build-up region, are guided past built-up conveyable-article carriers such that they subject the conveyable-article carriers, at most, to extremely weak contact impact, if any at all.
It is thus possible to have built-up operation which does not adversely effect the conveying arrangement as the drive belt continues running.
The advantages of the invention are still utilized even when individual driver elements cannot be shifted into the non-driving position or, in their non-driving position, nevertheless come into contact with built-up conveyable-article carriers.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the position-changing means comprise controllable means for changing the guide path of the drive belt in a reversible manner, said controllable means being designed for diverting the drive belt in the build-up region of the conveying route optionally from a path in which the driver elements are guided into the driving position into a path in which the driver elements are guided into the non-driving position. This configuration of the invention makes it possible to divert the drive belt in the build-up region if required, with the result that driver elements can pass the build-up region along the conveying route without actively engaging with built-up conveyable-article carriers. According to a variant of this embodiment of the invention, the deflecting means are configured such that they keep the drive belt away from built-up conveyable-article carriers, over more or less the entire length of the build-up region, to the extent where the driver elements, in the build-up region, can only act, at most, to a slight extent, if at all, and with yielding action on the conveyable-article carriers. In order to disperse a build-up of conveyable-article carriers, the deflecting means can be controlled such that they guide the drive belt again so that driver elements can engage with conveyable-article carriers in order to drive them.
According to a further variant of the configuration of the invention mentioned above, it is provided that the means for changing the guide path in the build-up region are arranged, and can be activated, along the conveying route such that they divert the drive belt, at predetermined locations of the conveying route, into the path in which the driver elements are guided into the non-driving position, said predetermined locations corresponding to the locations in which, in the event of a build-up of conveyable-article carriers, are located those regions of the conveyable-article carriers which are to be subjected to the action of the driver elements for the driving coupling between conveyable-article carriers and drive belts. Once these locations have been bypassed, the drive belt is diverted in the opposite direction again in each case and guided normally along the conveying route. In the case of such a locally restricted redirection of the drive belt, the driver elements in each case bypass the stop regions of the conveyable-article carriers in the build-up. In order to disperse a build-up, the effect of diverting the drive belt is reversed again, with the result that driver elements can then engage with the previously built-up conveyable-article carriers in order to drive them. According to a development of the last-mentioned variant of the invention, the means for changing the guide path have deflecting guide elements which deflect the drive belt locally in a guided manner from the path in which the driver elements are guided into the driving position into a path in which the driver elements are guided into the non-driving position, it being possible for the deflecting guide elements, in a respective displacement region, to be displaced in a controlled manner along the conveying route in order to vary the respective location of the deflection of the drive belt. The deflecting guide elements can preferably be displaced in each case between two end positions in the longitudinal direction of the conveying route, one of these end positions corresponding to a position in which a stop region of a conveyable-article carrier located in the build-up is bypassed, whereas the other end position is selected such that the abovementioned bypass is eliminated and the driver elements can engage with the stop regions of the conveyable-article carriers again.
The invention preferably relates, in all configurations, to a suspension-type conveying arrangement with conveyable-article carriers which have at least one running-gear mechanism with a V-shaped or U-shaped bracket, running rollers being arranged in a rotatable manner at the free leg ends of the bracket and being oriented obliquely in relation to one another, with the result that they can roll on running surfaces of gable-roof-like guide rails along a relevant conveying route, the bracket extending beneath the guide rail. The conveyable-article carriers in question here preferably comprise at least two running-gear mechanisms of the abovementioned type, which are connected to one another at their bottom ends by a carrying rod for conveyable articles, the conveyable-article carriers preferably being of the same dimensions and, in particular at a predetermined location of their longitudinal extent, having a stop region for driver elements of the drive belt. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the drive-belt guide is configured in relation to the extent of the guide rails such that a respective driver element guided into the driving position can engage behind a respective rail-guided conveyable-article carrier on the bracket leg of a running-gear mechanism in order to drive the same along the conveying route.
According to a particularly preferred configuration of the invention, in all the embodiments, the drive belt is a drive chain, in particular plate link chain, with driver elements arranged thereon. The driver elements located in the driving position project, for example, laterally from the drive chain (conveying chain), with the result that they extend into the path of the rail-guided conveyable-article carriers in order to be able to engage with conveyable-article carriers. The driver elements are preferably driver fingers which can be deflected with elastic yielding action. These should be of such a nature that, after overcoming a certain opposing force, they can move away from a conveyable-article carrier which has been blocked unintentionally, for example, outside a build-up region, and can overcome engagement with the conveyable-article carrier, without causing spontaneous damage.
The driver fingers may be combined in groups to form driver brushes, the driver-brush elements preferably being arranged on the drive belt such that they follow equidistantly one after the other.
In an alternative configuration, the drive belt could be provided with driver bristles without any significant spacings being formed therebetween.
According to a further preferred configuration of the invention, the driver elements are mounted on the drive belt such that they can be moved relative to the drive belt between the driving position and the non-driving position. In the case of such a solution, there is thus no need to influence the drive-belt guidance in order to transfer driver elements, in the case of a build-up of conveyable-article carriers, into the non-driving position, in which they can undergo coupling or engagement with relevant conveyable-article carriers at most to a slight extent, if at all. Rather, the driver elements are transferred into the non-driving position by the driver elements being moved relative to the drive belt. For this purpose, it is provided that the position-changing means, which can be activated in a controlled manner, have position guiding elements which are arranged at least in certain sections along the build-up region and are designed for influencing driver elements, which are carried along the conveying route by the drive belt, such that the driver elements are transferred from the driving position into the non-driving position at least at predetermined locations along the build-up region.
The position guiding elements are preferably cam elements against which the driver elements moved along by the drive belt butt or are supported (if appropriate under spring prestressing). In accordance with the course taken by the cam or cams, driver elements can thus be moved between their driving position and their non-driving position.
Cam sections are provided in the build-up region, at least at certain locations, and result in the driver elements being transferred into the non-driving position. These certain locations are the locations at which, in the event of a build-up, are located stop regions of the conveyable-article carriers for the driving coupling by driver elements. These stop regions are thus bypassed by the driver elements. A switchable stopper element is usually provided at the front end of the build-up region, this stopper element, in its active position, constituting a barrier for the conveyable-article carriers. The cam sections can preferably be displaced in a controlled manner in the conveying direction and/or transversely thereto in order to vary conditions for the engagement between driver elements and conveyable-article carriers, for example for the purpose of dispersing a build-up again once the stopper element has been transferred into the passive position.
The driver elements may be arranged in a pivotable manner on the drive belt. In another configuration, it is possible for the driver elements to be arranged on the drive belt such that they can be linearly displaced transversely to the respective direction of the conveying route.
Within the context of the invention, it may be provided that separate driver elements always remain in the driving position or, even in their non-driving position, can produce easily yielding engagement with conveyable-article carriers or a slight degree of coupling with conveyable-article carriers, whereas the driver elements located therebetween bypass the conveyable-article carriers in their non-driving position.
The invention also relates, under a further aspect, to a conveying arrangement, in particular suspension-type conveyor arrangement, having rails for guiding conveyable-article carriers, equipped with running rollers, along a conveying route, having a drive belt which is guided, at least in certain regions, along the conveying route and has driver elements which are arranged on it and, in a driving position, are suitable, and envisaged, for driving rail-guided conveyable-article carriers. In order to achieve the abovementioned object, this conveying arrangement is characterized in that the driver elements on the drive belt can be transferred in each case from the driving position into a non-driving position, and in that each driver element is assigned a respective build-up sensor which is carried along on the drive belt and is intended for detecting built-up conveyable-article carriers, the build-up sensors being designed for transferring the driver elements assigned to them into the non-driving position directly, or possibly indirectly via a controlled arrangement, when a buildup of conveyable-article carriers is detected.
Each build-up sensor preferably has a contour-follower element which is mounted on the drive belt such that it can be moved between a normal position, which corresponds with the driving position of the associated driver element, and a yielding position, which corresponds with the non-driving position of the driver element, the contour-follower element having a cam section by means of which it extends, in the normal position, into the path of conveyable-article carriers guided by rails along the conveying route, with the result that, when the cam section comes into contact with a group of built-up conveyable-article carriers, the contour-follower element can move away from contours of the conveyable-article carriers, in a controlled manner, into the yielding position in order to transfer the associated driver element into the non-driving position, and to keep it in the non-driving position until it has been moved past the group of built-up conveyable-article carriers.
The driver elements are preferably arranged directly on the contour-follower elements. According to one embodiment of the invention, the contour-follower elements are arranged on the drive belt by means of a pivoting mount such that they can be pivoted between the normal position and the yielding position. It is possible here for the contour-follower elements to be mounted in a pivotable manner on the drive belt such that the pivot pins, in accordance with the respective course taken by the conveying route, are oriented parallel or (in the case of the course taken by the conveying route being closed) tangentially to the conveying route, the pivoting mounts being mounted on the drive belt such that the contour-follower elements are loaded, under the action of gravitational force, in the direction of their normal position.
In the case of all of the configurations of the present invention, the drive belt is preferably a drive chain, in particular plate link chain.
The driver elements are preferably driver fingers which can be deflected with elastic yielding action. Driver elements in the form of brush elements with driver bristles are particularly preferred.